Gloucester Will Jump To Aaa Dukes Likely To Jump In 1990-91

GLOUCESTER — As a by-product of the county's growth, Gloucester High School will move from Group AA to Group AAA beginning in the 1990-91 school year, most likely joining the Peninsula District.

According to Principal Glenith Whitaker and athletic director Jerry Morgan, the school has approximately 1,140 students in grades 10-12. The Group AA limit is 999.

Almost all schools that large would be in AAA already. But because a "high school improvement" committee recommended building another school in the county, Gloucester received a two-year waiver from the Virginia High School League. It allowed the Dukes to continue competing in Group AA through 1989-90.

But the county board of supervisors was unable to allocate the money to build another school, thus forcing Gloucester to apply for AAA status. Earlier this year, Whitaker filed an application to gain entry to the Peninsula District.

Peninsula District treasurer Clayton Washington, the principal at Phoebus High School, said "the chances are very good" that Gloucester will be admitted. "We don't have any reason to think otherwise."

"We don't have a choice enrollment-wise," said Morgan. "We're certainly AAA size. We got the waiver because we saw no reason to go AAA for two years.

"If the money had been appropriated, the (new) school would have opened in 1990 with basically 800 students in each school - the ideal AA size."

Whitaker said Peninsula District Chairman James Kilpatrick, Menchville's principal, had invited her to attend a district meeting April 10.

"He received my letter in February,"Whitaker said. "It's just an etiquette thing."

Whitaker said that building a second high school isn't an immediate concern to the county.

"After the elementary and middle schools are expanded and completed, the decision will be made on the high school, probably around 1991," Whitaker said. "This has been the fastest-growing county in Virginia for a number of years, but the growth definitely has slacked off. The enrollment will be about the same next year."

According to Whitaker and Morgan, moving to AAA will cause scheduling problems, especially during the winter sports. Unlike its current Peninsula District counterparts, Gloucester has only one gymnasium.

"We have problems with practice space," Morgan said. "We have the wrestling team practicing on one side of the commons (cafeteria) and the gymnastics team on the other. Plus, we'll have girls' basketball at the same time as boys'.

"We don't have indoor track. It creates a scheduling nightmare for us. And for the other schools in the county, their gyms are so small that we can't practice basketball in there."

Whitaker realized budgetary decisions could determine how difficult it is for the school to hold its weight in AAA.

"Money is the key," Whitaker said. "We would need another gymnasium to be able to compete at the AAA level in basketball." The budget plans "include building a gym, a track, and new tennis courts, all of which are desperately needed."

Morgan: "A new gym has been asked for in the capital improvement plan. Whether it will come through, I don't know. We'll know sometime by the end of the school year."

The Dukes will be playing many schools they rarely have faced in the past, primarily those in Newport News and Hampton.

At first, those matchups may not attract as many fans as games against Gloucester's traditional York River District rivals. For example, Gloucester had little trouble this season selling out its home basketball game against Tabb.

"That concerns me, a city school playing against a country school," Morgan said. "In the city schools, they lump all their monies together and each school gets X amount of dollars. We don't have that. What we can spend is what we make on gate."

"I don't know whether competing with teams we've never competed against will result in the same hometown support," Whitaker said. "Maybe it will be just a matter of years to develop that. I certainly hope so."

Gloucester teams and fans will have a slightly longer journey to most Peninsula District games as well.

Whitaker: "In my opinion, travel is a concern because I'm concerned whether parents and fans will travel that far. If our fans dwindle to smaller numbers, that's going to have an impact on the team's morale. Whether they'll drive to see us play in Hampton is an unknown."

Barring further changes in the Peninsula District, Gloucester's entrance would allow each school only one non-district game. But Morgan saw that factor positively.

The Peninsula schools "have had a hard time finding non-conference opponents, and that will help some of that," Morgan said.